Separable fastener



July 17, 1934- s. H. NORTON '51 AL 1,966,457

SEPARABLE FASTENER Original Filed March 17, 1932 ,1,1 'III. up. 1

' INVENTORS. Samuel H1Vor2on by Peder .ZVedal ATTORifiL Patented July 17, 1934 UNITED STATES SEPARABLE FASTENER Samuel H. Norton and Peder Nedal, Meadville, Pa., assignors to Hookless Fastener Company, Meadville, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 17, 1932, Serial No. 599,438 Renewed October 10, 1933- 10 Claims.

Our invention relates to separable slide fasteners and particularly to an improvement 'in or modification of the invention described and claimed in the application of Gideon Sundback, Serial No. 415,721, filed December '21, 1929.

The present invention consists in an improved construction of locking slider which will be simple and cheap to manufacture and at the same time, very durable and efficient in operation. More specific objects and advantages of our invention will more fully appear during the course of the following specification, and the novel structural features will be defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, we have shown for purposes of illustration, one embodiment which our invention may assume in practice. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a slide fastener equipped with my improved locking device;-

Fig. 2 is a side view of the slider on a section of fastener with parts broken away to facilitate illustration;

Fig. 3 is a cross section view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central section through the slider with the locking arm in unlocked position;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the slider showing the unlocked position;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the slider with locking arm removed; and

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section locking arm.

In carrying the invention into effect, the slider is formed of any suitable size and shape to fit the fastener on which it is used. The fastener illustrated is of a well-known type comprising fabric tapes 8, havingclosely spaced interlocking fastener elements 9, attached to the adjacent edges of the tapes. The slider body 10 comprises upper and lower plates 11 and 12 respectively, with side flanges 13 for guiding the fastener elements into engagement. The upper and lower plates are connected by the integral neck 14.

A lug 15 of novel construction is formed on the body of' the slider, such lug being preferably elongated lengthwise of the slider and having at one end a hole 16 and at the other end a projection or shoulder 1'1. A locking arm 18 in the form of a hollow sheet metal member having top and side walls, and preferably end walls, is mounted over the lug 15 and is pivotally attached to said lug adjacent one end by projections 19 extending into the hole 16. Such projections may be conveniently formed by small conical end punches. The lug has a notch 20 in which is engaged the end of aflat spring 21 which extends over the lug to the other side of the pivot and bears against the internal surface of the through the back wall of the locking arm. It is, of course, understood that the sides of the notch are forced together to anchor the spring firmly in place. At the opposite end the locking arm has a pointed projection 22 formed as an extension of one side wall which normally projects through the opening 23 in the top plate of the slider body into engagement with the fastener elements as seen in Fig. 2.

The pull device for the slider may be of any convenient form and the one shown herein comprises a metal tab 24 bifurcated at one end to embrace the locking arm. The pull tab when used for operating the slider to open the fastener, engages the inclined surfaces 25 on the side walls of the locking arm to lift the locking arm upwardly and thereby release the locking projection from engagement with the fastener elements. The extent of upward movement of the locking arm is limited by the internal shoulder 26 engaging the projection on the shoulder 17 on the lug.

The operation of our improved locking device will be readily understood in view of the above description. In normal use the slider may be moved to fully closed position or any intermediary position and the pull tab released. Immediately the spring will cause the locking arm to move to locked position. When the operator desires to move the slider the pull tab is shifted to the forward end of its travel whereby the locking projection is lifted away from the fastener elements. When the slider is being moved in the other direction, the force of the pull tab on the locking arm will ordinarily hold the locking arm in unlocked position but if it does not, the locking projection will simply ratchet over the fastener elements because its rearward surface is inclined.

As a result of our invention it will be observed that an improved slider of the self-locking type has been devised which can readily be manufactured in quantity production at a cost which. will not be prohibitive. It will also be observed that the parts can not be readily damaged by pressure from outside forces and accordingly the device is very reliable in use.

While we have shown and described one em: bodiment which our invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purposes of illustration and description and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of our invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and. disengaging the same, an elongated lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm mounted on said lug and partially enclosing the same, said arm being pivotally connected to said lug adjacent one end, a locking projection on said arm adjacent the other end and movable into and out of engagement with said fastener elements, a spring carried by the slider acting on said locking arm to hold it normally in locked position, and means for movingsaid arm to unlocked position.

2. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, a lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm pivotally connected to said lug, a locking projection on said arm movable into and out of engagement with said fastener elements, a spring; attached to said lug and acting on said locking arm to hold it normally in locked position, and means for moving said locking arm to unlocked position.

3. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, a lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm mounted 'on said lug and pivotally connected thereto, a

spring carried by the slider acting between said lug and said arm on one side of said pivot, a locking projection on said arm normally held in engagement with said fastener elements by said spring, and means for rocking said arm about its pivot to move saidlocking projection out of locking engagement.

4. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, a lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm embracing said lug and pivotally connected thereto, a locking projection on said arm movable into and out of engagement with said fastener elements, a flat spring anchored to said lug and bearing against said locking arm on one side of said pivot to hold said locking projection normally in locking engagement, and a pull device carried by said slider adapted to rock said arm against the tension of said spring to release said locking engagement.

5. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, a lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm mounted over said lug and pivotally connected thereto, means on said arm adapted in one position ,of. said arm to engage said fastener elements to lock the slider, a spring having one end anchored to said lug at one side of said pivot and extending over said lug to the other side of said pivot where its other end bears against said locking member to hold it normally in locked position, and means for moving said locking arm to unlocked position.

6. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, an elongated lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm mounted on said lug and pivotally connected thereto, a

locking projection on said arm' movable into and out of engagement with. said fastener elements, a notch in said lug, a spring having one end anchored in said notch and its other end hearing against said locking member to hold it normally in locked position, and a pull device engaged under said locking arm and adapted to release said locking member when an upward force is exerted on said pull.

7. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows 'of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, an elongated lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm mounted on said lug and pivotally connected thereto, a locking projection on said arm movable into and out of engagement with said fastener elements upon pivotal movement of said arm, means for normally retaining said locking arm in locked position, means for rocking said arm to lock releasing position, and cooperating means on said lug and locking arm to limit rocking movement of said arm.

8. In a slide fastener, the combination defined in claim 7 wherein said means for limiting rocking movement of said arm comprises a shoulder on one end of said lug and a cooperating internal shoulder on said locking arm.

9. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, a lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm comprising a hollow sheet metal member mounted thereon and partially enclosing said lug, said arm being pivotally connected to said lug, one of the side walls of said hollow arm having a pointed extension providing a locking projection movable into and out of engagement with said fastener elements upon pivotal movement of said arm, means acting on said arm to hold it normally in locked position, and a pull device carried by the slider adapted also to move said locking arm to released position.

10. In a slide fastener, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of interlocking fastener elements attached thereto, a slider mounted on said rows of elements for engaging and disengaging the same, a lug projecting from the upper plate of said slider, a locking arm comprising a sheet metal hollow member having top and side walls partially enclosing said lug, means for pivotally connecting said arm to said lug, a locking projection on one of said side walls movable into and out of engagement with the fastener elements upon pivotal movement of said arm, one of said side walls being shaped to provide an inclined cam surface adjacent said projection, and a combined slider pull and lock con- A 

